London and Liverpool to go into tier two after lockdown ends

London and Liverpool to go into tier two after lockdown ends thumbnail

London and Liverpool will be placed under tier 2 restrictions when England’s national lockdown ends on December 2.

The capital has avoided being upgraded to tier 3 – the toughest level of measures – while Liverpool has been downgraded from the top tier following a drop in the infection rate.

Manchester, Hull, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol and Kent are heading into the toughest tier three restrictions.

Only the Isle of Wight, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have been placed in the lowest tier 1 set of restrictions.

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Confirming the fate of millions of people across England, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said ‘these are not easy decisions, but they have been made according to the best clinical advice’

He told MPs: ‘Thanks to the shared sacrifice of everyone in recent weeks, in following the national restrictions, we have been able to start to bring the virus back under control and slow its growth, easing some of the pressure on the NHS.

‘We will do this by returning to a regional tiered approach, saving the toughest measures for the parts of the country where prevalence remains too high.’

Each area will be placed into one of three tiers when the lockdown ends next week, but the majority will be put under tier two measures.

The measures have been toughened from the previous system, meaning more authorities will be plunged into stricter tiers.

Boris Johnson warned MPs last night that the new measures are going to be ‘very tough’. ‘We’ve got to keep our foot on the throat of this virus,’ Mr Johnson said, according to The Times.

Ministers are set to review the measures on December 16 and areas which are successfully lowering transmission rates could be dropped down a tier ahead of Christmas.



Full list of tiers by area

Tier 1: Medium alert

South East

  • Isle of Wight

South West

  • Cornwall
  • Isles of Scilly

Tier 2: High alert

North West

  • Cumbria
  • Liverpool City Region
  • Warrington and Cheshire

Yorkshire

  • York
  • North Yorkshire

West Midlands

  • Worcestershire
  • Herefordshire
  • Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin

East Midlands

  • Rutland
  • Northamptonshire

East of England

  • Suffolk
  • Hertfordshire
  • Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough
  • Norfolk
  • Essex, Thurrock and Southend on Sea
  • Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes

London

  • all 32 boroughs plus the City of London

South East

  • East Sussex
  • West Sussex
  • Brighton and Hove
  • Surrey
  • Reading
  • Wokingham
  • Bracknell Forest
  • Windsor and Maidenhead
  • West Berkshire
  • Hampshire (except the Isle of Wight), Portsmouth and Southampton
  • Buckinghamshire
  • Oxfordshire

South West

  • South Somerset, Somerset West and Taunton, Mendip and Sedgemoor
  • Bath and North East Somerset
  • Dorset
  • Bournemouth
  • Christchurch
  • Poole
  • Gloucestershire
  • Wiltshire and Swindon
  • Devon

Tier 3: Very High alert

North East

  • Tees Valley Combined Authority:
    • Hartlepool
    • Middlesbrough
    • Stockton-on-Tees
    • Redcar and Cleveland
    • Darlington
  • North East Combined Authority:
    • Sunderland
    • South Tyneside
    • Gateshead
    • Newcastle upon Tyne
    • North Tyneside
    • County Durham
    • Northumberland

North West

  • Greater Manchester
  • Lancashire
  • Blackpool
  • Blackburn with Darwen

Yorkshire and The Humber

  • The Humber
  • West Yorkshire
  • South Yorkshire

West Midlands

  • Birmingham and Black Country
  • Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent
  • Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull

East Midlands

  • Derby and Derbyshire
  • Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
  • Leicester and Leicestershire
  • Lincolnshire

South East

  • Slough (remainder of Berkshire is tier 2: High alert)
  • Kent and Medway

South West

  • Bristol
  • South Gloucestershire
  • North Somerset

The latest announcement on tiers comes after the Government set out its Covid plan for Christmas earlier this week.

Three households will be allowed to form an exclusive Christmas bubble for five days from December 23 to 27.

Christmas bubbles will be fixed over the festive period, meaning you are not allowed to change your bubble once it is formed.

While social distancing will be relaxed in the bubbles, people are still advised to exercise restraint and judgment if they plan to mix with vulnerable friends or family.

It means friends and family will have the chance to hug for the first time in months.

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